Electronic device manufacturers strive to produce a rich interface for users. Conventional devices utilize visual and auditory cues to provide feedback to a user. In some interface devices, kinesthetic feedback (such as active and resistive force feedback), and/or tactile feedback (such as vibration, texture, and heat), may also be provided to the user. Haptic feedback can provide cues that enhance and simplify the user interface.
Existing haptic devices, when evaluated against power consumption specifications, may not be able to provide a user with acceptable types and levels of haptic effects, and may be overly costly and complex to produce. As a result there is a need to explore new materials to be used in haptic technology to provide ways of providing haptic feedback. In the past, primarily electromagnetic motors ERM (eccentric rotating mass), LRA (linear resonant actuator) or SMA (shape memory alloys) have been used to provide haptic feedback. As personal data devices evolve to smaller form factors, power consumption to achieve such haptic effects and innovative ways of signaling a user when a predefined condition or threshold is present, are needed.